Etchells Australian Championship at Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club

Etchells Australian Championship at Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club - Day 1

by Lisa Ratcliff 13 Jan 2017 11:42 GMT 11-15 January 2017

David Edwards' Iron Lotus coming to the finish line on day 1 of the 2017 Etchells Australian Championship at Royal Prince Alfred YC © Stephen Collopy / RPAYC

The pin boat taking on the rolling swell waiting for the fleet to reach the gates on day 1 of the 2017 Etchells Australian Championship at Royal Prince Alfred YC © Stephen Collopy / RPAYC

On board the Oatley family's supermaxi Wild Oats XI they are crewmates. At the Etchells 2017 Australian Championship skippers Graeme Taylor and Iain Murray are deadlocked on opposing boats at 16 points apiece with Taylor leading the series on a countback.

A past Etchells Australian champion from Victoria, Taylor also has Wild Oats' long-time mainsheet hand Steve 'Mothy' Jarvin crewing Magpie (Mornington Yacht Club), along with James Mayo.

On racing against Taylor and Jarvin, Murray (Northern Havoc, Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron) said, "They are our mates, we tune up with them and we socialise with them. It's all pretty friendly; we don't bang each other around on the race course too much, though if it comes down to the last race then maybe that will change.

"Today was meant to be a straightforward nor'easter but it all went light and floppy; it was a pretty tricky day. Winds were reasonably strong then it turned really hot and they died out in race one. In the second race we had medium breeze and then it went light again. For the third start conditions started to get really windy and bumpy," Murray added.

Third overall with 21 points after three races is Doug McGain's Ciao (Cruising Yacht Club of Australia).

Saturday's race wins went to David Edwards' Michael Coxon-helmed Iron Lotus and Chris Hampton's Tango, sailing for Victoria's Royal Brighton Yacht Club.

Race officer Ross Wilson managed to squeeze in two good races on day two then blew the third when the breeze kicked up to 30 knots and more concerning, the sea state in the Palm Beach circle built correspondingly.

Northern Havoc finishing on day 1 of the 2017 Etchells Australian Championship at Royal Prince Alfred YC - photo © Stephen Collopy / RPAYC

"The waves up the first work of what would have been race four were incredible - if an Etchells went down those it wouldn't come up again. Plus the Bureau had issued a strong wind warning so we called it a day," Wilson said.

He's aiming for three races on Saturday.

Only one race was scored on the opening day, Thursday January 12, after multiple delays thanks to light winds 6-7 knots on top of two general recalls, a postponement, and then finally a black flag start for the edgy 45-strong Etchells fleet.

Current Etchells world champion John Bertrand won the opening bout then failed to finish race two when their top mainsail batten blew out just as they started. "We had to drop the main for repairs," Bertrand said. "It's never happened before... Murphy's Law I guess." The DNF score becomes Triad2's one drop from the final series pointscore.

Saturday's forecast is north to north-westerly winds 15 to 20 knots reaching up to 30 knots offshore early in the morning before winds shift southerly in the morning then tend east to south-easterly in the late afternoon. South-easterly 15 to 25 knots turning easterly 10 to 15 knots in the late afternoon is the likely scenario for the final day of the national title staged by the Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club at Newport on Sydney's northern beaches.

Results after Day 1:

Pos	Sail No	Sail No	Boat Name	Skipper	Crew	Crew	Crew	Club	R1	R2	R3	Pts
1	47	AUS947	MAGPIE	Graeme Taylor	James Mayo	Steve Jarvin		MYC	4	10	2	16
2	29	AUS1119	NORTHERN HAVOC	Iain Murray	Euan McNicol	Richard Allanson		RSYS	7	3	6	16
3	52	AUS1244	CIAO	Douglas Mc Gain	Michael OBrien	Stuart Clark		CYCA	8	5	8	21
4	40	AUS1332	TOP 40	Peter Merrington	Geoffrey Bonouvrie	Ian McKillop		RSYS/CYCA	13	6	5	24
5	42	AUS1442	IRON LOTUS	Michael Coxon	Alex Rozenauers	David Edwards	Ivan Wheen	RSYS	16	11	1	28
6	5	AUS870	ENCORE	Peter Conde	Brian Hillier	Myles Baron Hay		RQYS	15	2	12	29
7	33	AUS1219	CARABELLA IV	Matthew McCann	Campbell Davidson	Dara Johnston	Scott Cotton	RSYS	19	4	7	30
8	13	AUS1443	TANGO	Chris Hampton	Mark Andrews	Sam Haines		RBYC	3	1	28	32
9	49	AUS1436	WOBBEGONG2	Doug Flynn	Henry Kernot	Steve McConaghy		RSYS	9	20	3	32
10	37	AUS1337	ITCHY	Will Northam	Alice Tarnawski	Joshua Chant	Nick Rosenauers	CYCA	14	9	9	32
11	27	AUS868	YANDOO XX	Jeanne‑Claude Strong	Marcus Burke	Seve Jarvin	Tiana Wittey	RSYS	11	8	14	33
12	55	AUS875	WHISPER II	Bruce Ferguson	Cameron Miles	James Meggison		RPAYC	5	19	10	34
13	45	AUS1325	IRIS III	Peter McNeill	David Gleadhill	Dean Blatchford		LMYC	2	12	22	36
14	15	AUS1380	FIFTEEN+	David Clark	Mark Langford	Sasha Ryan	Will Howard	CYCA	12	16	11	39
15	21	AUS1445	THE CURE	Raymond Smith	Brad Sheridan	Mike Hughes		RPYC	6	22	16	44
16	38	AUS925	LISA	Martin Hill	David Chapman	James Corrie	Milly Bennett	RSYS	17	14	13	44
17	44	AUS1440	TRIAD2	John Bertrand	Bill Browne	Jake Newman		RBYC	1	46F	4	51
18	65	AUS1343	VINCERO	Peter Gardner	Nick Kingsmill	Will Parker		CYCA	18	18	21	57
19	71	AUS832	ANIMAL HOUSE	Dirk Van Der Struyf	Luke Paterson.	Richard Rowell		RFBYC	10	28	20	58
20	26	AUS1268	SHINDIG	Robert Weir	Ant Elliott	Paul Thackray		RSYS	23	13	29	65
21	24	AUS1292	AUS1292	Matthew Ramaley	Adam Turks	Will Thompson		CYCA	38	15	15	68
22	72	HKG1345	CONSPIRACY	James Polson	Akira Sakai	Rory Godman		RHKYC	21	30	17	68
23	30	AUS1270	WHISPER	Willem Van Walt Meij	Charlie Manzoni	Elyse Guevara‑Rattay	Michael Nash	RSYS	26	24	19	69
24	64	AUS1377	ROULETTE	Mark Johnson	Andrew Smith	Raffa Trujillo		RQYS	31	7	33	71
25	31	AUS1318	ADOLESCENCE	Steve Billingham	Jervis Tilly	William Lewis		RSYS	28	27	18	73
26	54	AUS1254	ODYSSEY	Jill Connell	Anthony Merrington	Wade Morgan		RPAYC/CYCA	20	21	34	75
27	50	AUS511	GRAND V	Gordon Hinds	Adrian Dunphy	Stephen Ingate		RSYS	24	32	23	79
28	74	AUS1347	FAIR DINKUM	Grant Hudson	Ben Vercoe	Klaus Lorenz	Tom Siganto	RQYS	22	23	38	83
29	17	AUS1275	TREKKA	Jason Antill	Damian Macey	Mark Griffith		RPAYC	27	31	26	84
30	41	AUS1141	MENS SHIRTS	Peter Stubbings	Ann Stubbings	Ross Melville		RBYC	36	26	25	87
31	46	AUS921	WATERLOO TOO	Noel Paterson	James Chilman	Sarah Board	Simon Paterson	RQYS	32	17	42	91
32	6	AUS1444	FUMANCHU	Mark Roberts	Chad Elsegood	Matthew Johnston		ASC	43	25	27	95
33	9	AUS892	IVY	John Denton	Graeme Sheldon	Roy Leslie		GSC	25	36	37	98
34	48	AUS768	PAM	Malcolm Parker	Clare Costanzo	Evelyn Foster	Rachel Bower	RPAYC	37	29	36	102
35	36	AUS1346	AVALON	Michael Bellingham	Harry Bethwaite	Will Canty		RSYS	30	33	39	102
36	70	UAE1400	AFRICAN QUEEN	Jan Muysken	Matt Fisk	Ryan Fisk		RSYS	42	37	24	103
37	2	AUS112	ACHILLES	Russell Ford	Darryl Bentley	Rebecca Wiley		RSYS	34	40	30	104
38	12	AUS1186	TOUCH PAUSE ENGAGE	Michael Stovn‑Bradfo	Andrew Gordon	Andrew Kennedy		RSYS	39	34	32	105
39	14	AUS1314	KALIKA 3	Ian Audsley	Gordon Otten	Peter Kelly		RPAYC	29	46F	31	106
40	23	AUS1237	BLACK KNIGHT	Bruce Dey	Andrew Hamil	Tom Crow		RPAYC	33	38	35	106
41	60	AUS1106	SAINTS III	Bruce Hilliard	Marin Rosandic	Rob Hilliard		CYCA	35	39	41	115
42	73	AUS1192	ECHO BEACH	Philip Matthews	Peter Turner	Philip Baker		LMYC	41	35	40	116
43	51	AUS1291	THE DON	Don Wilson	Justin Gurdol	Peter McIntosh		GSC	40	42	43	125
44	75	AUS1336	GO WITH THE FLOW	Robert Griffits	Brian Mansfield	Ian Michie		LMYC	44	41	44	129
45	43	AUS1029	H2O RAT	Geoff Dilworth	Ian Bowie	Rod Pearson		GSC	45	46F	46C	137